


Did I just die?

by Nanerich



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: And angst, Gen, Happy ending though, How Do I Tag, So much angst, Whump, Whumptober, and anxiety and shit, happy and pepper save everybody from completely losing it, i'm sorry in advance, though tony and may are pretty close
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 04:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20868176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanerich/pseuds/Nanerich
Summary: “Boss, incoming call from Peter.”“Uhm, hi, Mr. Stark…” Peter sounded wary, almost weak.“Peter, are you alright?”“So, there was… at the bank…”“Yes, I saw the news. Please tell me those bullets didn’t hit you.” Please, please!“Uhhh…”“Fuck, I’m coming. Where are you?” Tony ran for the door, his suit already assembling.“Bank roof.”By the time Tony get's there, Peter is already unconscious and covered in his blood. Strange just has to fix him again, or Tony would not know what he'd do.





	Did I just die?

“Boss, Spider-Man is on the news.”

“Oh, really? Put it up!”

Almost instantaneously the screen in Tony’s lab flared up, a reporter in front of a mass of people, police and a bank downtown.

“Currently all we know is that nine minutes ago, silent alarms were triggered. The first, albeit unconfirmed reports, speak of four armed gunmen, holding five tellers and seven customers that were inside the bank as hostage. About two minutes ago, a reliable source saw Spider-Man enter the building, at this point nothing more is known.”

Her report was interrupted by several gunshots.

“The fuck?”

“We are reporting that multiple shots have been fired. At this point we cannot confirm or deny any casualties.”

“Shit, shit shit! FRI, pull up KAREN’s log, scan for any and all injuries!” Tony felt himself spiralling and anxiously paced up and down the lab. “FRI, tell me something, anything!”

“I cannot connect to KAREN.”

“WHAT? Did he hack his suit again?” Hopefully, he only hacked his suit. If he didn’t, it meant that these bullets… Shit, Tony couldn’t even finish that thought without almost throwing up.

“Things have turned around.” The reporter’s voice stopped Tony from cussing out his AI, who admittedly did nothing wrong, but was unfortunately the only person around, Tony could let his frustrations out on. “After gunshots were heard being fired, the doors have now opened, and the hostages are being released. None of them appear harmed, paramedics are on-site though to treat them. As you can see behind me, the police are now filing into the bank. And, wow, yes, Spider-Man is indeed responsible for saving these people, he just swung across the street and has now disappeared behind the bank’s roof. We are incredibly lucky to have a hero such as him looking out for our city, our citizens and from the bottom of my heart: Thank you Spider-Man!”

“That fucking kid…”, Tony mumbled under his breath. As fantastically as he did, he really had to answer for his new hack-attack against his own security system!

“Boss, incoming call from Peter.”

Well, there was his chance for scolding… “Put him through.”

“Spider-Man, nice job. Hacking the suit again, I’m so proud.”

“Uhm, hi, Mr. Stark…” Peter sounded wary, almost weak.

“Peter, are you alright?”

“So, there was… at the bank…”

“Yes, I saw the news. Please tell me those bullets didn’t hit you.” Please, please!

“Uhhh…”

“Fuck, I’m coming. Where are you?” Tony ran for the door, his suit already assembling.

“Bank roof.”

“I am on my way; I’ll be with you any moment!”

“Mhm… So… I think I lost a lot of blood… I mean, I know where it is, it’s not inside me anymore…”, the kid mumbled.

“Just apply pressure and don’t move. FRI, alert the med bay. Kid, you with me?”

“Mhm…”

“Where are you hit?” He needed to keep the boy talking, needed him to stay awake.

“Uh, body…” Peter was slurring his words more and more.

“Thanks, how specific… Do you know how many…” Tony didn’t dare, he couldn’t finish that sentence.

“No… Everything red. ‘m tired, Mr. Stark.”

Ooooh, fuck! “No, Pete, you can’t sleep yet, you haven’t told me how you saved all those people at the bank yet!” Tony was aware how desperate he sounded right now, he just needed to get there faster.

“Mhm, was bad guys. With guns. Was slow, too slow…” Tony heard the shallow breathing from the other end of the line.

“Peter, do you hear me? I am almost there, just stay awake, alright?”

“‘m sorry, Mr. Stark…”

“Petey, come on, you did nothing wrong!”

“Mhm…”

“Peter, are you with me?” Shit, shit shit! “Pete, I can see you, I’ll land any second now, just stay with me, alright?”

Tony landed on the roof, running the last few meters and dropped down next to the boy. The unconscious boy, covered with blood. Fuck. Carefully, Tony checked for a pulse, exhaling deeply when he found a slow but steady one.

“Hey Peter, I’m here and I’m gonna make sure that you’re alright, got it? But for that you’re going to have to keep fighting.” He heard his own voice cracking. Gently, Tony took the boy in his arms and, as soon as he was sure that Peter was secure, he flew off.

“Ok, I’m going to keep talking, so your brain has something to do, to keep active. I mean, your brain is always active, that’s one of the things about you I find so amazing… Peter, you just saved 12 people’s lives in under two minutes! That is so fucking incredible and I am so fucking proud of you! But don’t you think that this is a goodbye or anything, because it’s not. Because the amazing Spider-Man is a fighter and will be absolutely fine.” Tony knew he was rambling but he couldn’t help it. It was the only way he could give his anxiety an out.

“FRI, is the medbay ready?”

“Yes, Dr. Strange is available to perform surgery, if necessary.”

“Good, I think we’re gonna need it. See, Petey, the best surgeon this side of the milky way is gonna take care of you, so everything will be just fine. Completely, totally fine.” Tony wasn’t sure, whether he was comforting the boy or himself.

“Alright, Pete, you see the Avenger’s logo up there? Means we’ve made it, you’re getting help right now and everything will be totally fine!”

As soon as he landed, Tony put Peter on a gurney, which was immediately wheeled into the operations theatre. Strange gave him a quick nod and followed. And, before he knew it, Tony was alone in front of the closed doors.

He looked down himself, covered in blood, Peter’s blood; so much blood…Tony’s lungs constricted, breathing hard he leaned against the wall. His knees started to shake, every joint felt like it was made of jelly, and slowly Tony slid down the wall, clutching his legs, pulling his knees to his chest.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck_. The thoughts in his head started to whirr around his head, faster and faster. As the hallway around him got blurry, Tony pressed his eyes shut. Still, everything was spinning. His head on his knees, he pressed against the wall, as hard as he could; the cold concrete there to support him, being a constant as the rest of the world blurred and whirled away.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck._ Tony felt the heat rising in his face and tears filling his eyes. His heart was racing, and he wasn’t sure anymore whether the wet in his palms and face was blood, sweat or tears. Barely able to breath, he clawed at the floor, hoping for support, for safety, security, but everything kept on spinning, faster and faster and…

“Tony!”

He heard his name being called, but couldn’t focus on the voice, couldn’t focus on where it came from.

“Tony, hey, it’s me, it’s Pepper. I’m here, it’s all gonna be ok.”

Through tear-filled eyes he looked up and could sort of make out his fiancée’s face right in front of him. “Pepper…”

“Yeah, honey, it’s me!”

“Pepper, I… I…”, he stammered, barely able to form a coherent thought, let alone an actual sentence.

“Shh, it’s ok, just breath, alright? Take a deep breath.” Tony felt her hands on his shoulders, softly and reassuringly stoking his arms. “You’re doing great. Just breath.”

They sat together for a while, Pepper’s gentle touch and soft voice calming Tony bit by bit.

“Pep, it’s Peter, he…”

“I know”, Pepper interrupted his choking, “FRIDAY told me when you left, told me what happened.”

“Ok.”

“How about you go and get a clean change of clothes, I can…”

“No”, he interrupted, “I’m not… not gonna leave…”

“Honey, Strange is fixing him, there’s nothing you can do for him right now.”

“No, I’m not leaving him!” What Tony would have liked to scream, only came out a hoarse whisper.

“Do you really want May to see you like this?”

“May… she…”

“I called her, just before I came down here. You think it’s good if she sees you all…” She didn’t have to finish her sentence.

“No…”, Tony had to agree. But it was to late for that now.

“TONY!” May came running down the hall, followed by Happy.

“May!” Pepper got up to receive May. Tony just let his head drop again, the loud noises washing together in his head. She had trusted Tony with her kid. And how does he repay her? By getting the kid shot. His eyes welled up again.

“Boss.” Tony slowly turned his head to see Happy kneeling down next to him. “It’s gonna be alright.”

“You don’t know that”, Tony wanted to scream, “you haven’t seen him!” But nothing came out of his mouth. _You haven’t seen him, bloody, half-dead, barely breathing… You haven’t heard what might be his last words… _

“Tony.” He looked up at May standing in front of him. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking. “Is… Is all that… Is it Peter’s…”

He stayed still, afraid that if he’d move or try to speak, he would fall apart. So he just dropped his head again.

“Oh god.”

It was dead silent for a moment. Tony didn’t dare to look at the woman.

“What happened?”

“Bank robbery… With hostages…” Tony fought to get the words out, still he couldn’t look at May. “Shots were fired… Peter called me… said he got hit… but… he was already unconscious when I got there.” Since his lungs were still against oxygen intake, Tony all but gasped for air while telling them what had happened.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw May sliding down the wall. “No, no, no, that just can’t happen! First Ben, now Pete… I… I can’t…”

“May. He’s going to be alright.” Tony didn’t notice Happy leaving his side, he was now sitting next to May, his arm around her shoulders.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. _Tony buried his head under his arms again. This was all his fault. All his fault. He felt Pepper’s hand on his head, softly stroking his hair. If it wasn’t for her, he would have had a complete breakdown by now.

Tony lost all sense of time, whether it was five hours or only one, he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that it felt like an eternity.

But eventually, after what seemed like forever, the door opened and out came Strange, a smile on his face. “Everything went perfectly, he’ll be completely alright.”

Oh, thank god!

“He did lose a lot of blood. A little later and…”, Strange left the rest unsaid.

“Thank you, Stephen”, Tony sighed as he got up, still leaning against the wall.

“Can we sit with him?” May asked.

“Yes, he will be out for a while though and probably spend most of tomorrow asleep. Bruce and I’ll take alternating shifts to check in on him, but with his superhealing he should be good in no time.”

Betty, one of the medics, wheeled Peter by them and into the next best room, May followed suit.

“Thanks so much!” Tony patted Strange on the shoulder before motioning to follow them.

“Maybe you should get changed. You are still covered in blood and Peter is alright and won’t be up for a while, so you can take ten minutes to get cleaned up.”

“Pepper, he’s in there because of me. I am not letting him out of my sight!” He was just about to turn around, when Pepper continued.

“You’re right, Tony, he is in there because of you. If it weren’t for you, he’d be dead on a rooftop somewhere.” Pepper walked up to him, her eyes wet with tears. “So, how about you take a breather, instead of blaming yourself for something that is clearly not your fault.” Her hands reached up, cupping his face. “I know you love that kid, we all do. Just think about what he’ll need when he wakes up: a bloody, dishevelled wreck or his mentor, who can tell the kid how incredibly well he did and assure Peter that everything is going to be perfectly alright?”

“Alright.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Who am I to argue with the smartest person in this building?”

“Usually the first in line”, Pepper chuckled, before putting a kiss on his forehead. “We’re all here, nobody is leaving this boy out of sight, so please, take a moment, alright?”

“Alright. I love you, Ms. Potts.

“I love you, too.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Slowly Peter opened his eyes. It hurt like hell the light was blinding, but he managed just enough to case his surroundings. He was in a big bed, a strange, unknown bed. Where was he?

Although it hurt, Peter carefully turned his head. He was connected to a screen, tubes running in and out of his arm. Wait, was this a hospital?

“Pete? Honey, are you with us?”

That was his aunt’s voice. Turning his head a little further, he could see her beside the bed, a smile all over her face.

“Mhm, hi.”

“How are you feeling?”

Peter registered the question but was not really up for an answer. “Tired”, was all he managed to mumble.

“Yeah, that tends to happen when you’re getting shot.” That was not May’s voice.

Slowly he turned his head to the other side, where Mr. Stark was sitting, smiling just as widely as May. Peter wasn’t exactly sure, what he meant with ‘getting shot’, but he could ask that another time.

“Hi Missark.”

“Hey Pete.”

Whatever happened, why ever he might be here, with May and Mr. Stark by his side, he’d be alright. With a smile on his own face, Peter closed his eyes and dozed off again.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Is that my jello?”

“Pete!” Tony, his mouth full with strawberry jello turned to the boy, whose eyes were almost open. “Hey buddy.”

“Oh, god, Peter, I’m so glad you’re alright.” May leaned in, still holding Peter’s hand which she hadn’t let go since he came out of the operating theatre.

“Hey, Aunt May.” Peter smiled back at her, still a little out of it. “Anybody want to tell me what happened?” He looked between the two adults. Tony exchanged a glance with May, who looked absolutely horrified to tell her nephew he almost died like his uncle did. Then Tony would take this one.

“You saved 12 people”, he explained proudly.

“In that bank right?”

“You remember?”

“Bits and pieces… I was at the bank, then it got loud and then it got painful and then it got dark”, Peter recapped his memories, slurring his words only a little bit.

“Sums it about up… What was loud were gunshots, the following pain was those bullets hitting you and the darkness was you passing out”, Tony summed up.

May winced at Tony’s explanation but Peter didn’t seem to notice it.

“Ok, makes sense…” Peter slowly sat up, Tony and May jumped in to help.

“Be careful, one of those holes is in your torso.”

“And that explains why I don’t feel like moving”, Peter grinned.

And once again, Tony felt like he was gonna be sick. He was definitely not ready to laugh about the kid dying on him; and from the looks of it, May felt the same.

Peter seemed to notice that and quickly changed the topic. “Question number two. What’s all this?” He nodded all around the room at flowers, stuffed animals, balloons and ‘Get-Better-Soon’-posters.

“That is with lots of love from the Avengers. I can’t remember who brought what, but I think they have a schedule by which they come visit.”

“Alright”, Peter chuckled, “not too bad. Could get used to this.”

“Don’t”, May interjected.

“I’m not gonna let you get shot ever again”, Tony made clear, maybe a little harsher than was necessary.

“Ok, I promise.”

Huh. The kid didn’t seem to realize he almost died… The way he joked about it, it was like when he broke his leg or that time he got a concussion from flying into a building. But this time was different. They never had a close call like this, ever. Only thinking back on it, Tony felt his anxiety levels rising and had to change the subject to keep from spiralling.

Thankfully the kid did it for him. “I have one last question.”

“Shoot. Damnit, sorry, wrong choice of words”, Tony added quickly. Damnit!

“Anyways”, Peter got back on topic, “Mr. Stark.”

“Mr. Parker.”

“Did you seriously eat my jello?”

“Uhm…” Tony glanced at the half empty cup in his hands. “I had to pretest, you know, if it was good…” Awkwardly he scooted closer to Peter. “Open up.” He got a spoon of jello and motioned it towards Peter’s face.

“Seriously?”, Peter raised an eyebrow at him.

“What, do you want me to make the plane noises?”, Tony grinned, as if that was the issue with his idea.

“Yeah, that’s the problem here”, Peter answered deadpan.

“Ok, sorry. Well, here comes the plane! Brrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm!”

May started to laugh, Peter tried his hardest to stay serious. Eventually, he opened up his mouth.

“And THERE!” With an exaggerated smile, Tony fed him a spoon of jello. “Good job.”

Apparently, that was the last straw. Peter snorted with laughter, covering the entire blanket with little red strawberry jello splatters.

“Peter Benjamin Parker! This is a hospital, sanitary and shit!”

He was still laughing, pulling a grimace. “Don’t make me laugh then! Besides, laughing really hurts…” He held his side, a mix between pain and giddiness on his face.

“Oh, yeah, we gotta be careful that the suture doesn’t break…”

Damnit, Tony couldn’t do anything right, could he? He was trying to let the boy be a hero and the kid got shot. He was trying to get his spirits up and almost ruined an intense operation. Fuck.

“It’s ok, I’m fine”, Peter reassured them, “I’d like another spoon of jello though and I promise not to redecorate in here.”

“Ok, then. I might leave the airplane out of this one, though…”

“Good idea”, May agreed with a grin.

“Open wide and here we go!”

“Uhm, should I come back later?” No one had noticed the door opening and Strange walking in.

“Stephen, hey. No, come on in.” Tony probably got a few shades redder, so did Peter, mouth filled with jello.

“Alright then. How do you feel?”

May and Tony scooted back to give the doctor a chance to do his job.

“’m al’ight”, Peter munched, before he swallowed the last bit of jelly. “My side hurts when I move or laugh, but I’m ok. My leg’s a little sore, too, but it’s alright.”

“Good”, content, Stephen smiled at Peter. “Can I check your wounds? Just want to make sure it heals alright.”

“Let’s give you the room.” Tony got up and walked towards the door, May following suit. “We’ll wait outside.”

“Thanks.” Strange nodded, before he turned back to Peter, who looked a little bit worried about Tony and May leaving.

“We’ll be right outside, back as soon as the Doc’s done”, May assured him, before she closed the door behind the two.

As soon as they were by themselves on the floor, May turned to Tony. “Tony, can you do me a favour?”

“Yeah, May of course, anything!”

“Please don’t tell Peter how bad he was.” May’s face changed into a very defeated, melancholy expression. “I think you realized he doesn’t know he almost… And just like Ben at that and…”

“May, it’s alright.” Tony took her hand and squeezed it softly. “I’m not gonna tell him. Why bother him with something that didn’t happen and won’t happen as long as I have something to do with it.”

“Thank you.” She let out a relieved sigh and smiled at him. “I know you’ll do anything in your power to keep him safe. I have to admit though, it’s gonna be tough to let Spider-Man back on the streets…”

“Tell me about it! I’ll get right on working on a bulletproof suit.”

“Alright, you two.” Strange walked out of the room. “That spiderhealing is pretty amazing, the wounds already started closing up. It’s probably best to keep him here a little while longer, but I’d be surprised if he got a scar from that.”

“That’s really good news”, Tony sighed with a small smile.

“I’d say.”

“Dr. Strange, thank you so much for stitching up my boy, I can’t tell you how grateful I am!”

May wrapped herself around the wizard in a tight hug and after a shocked moment, Stephen hugged her right back. “Of course; anytime.” He smiled at her, then at Tony. “I’ll come by this evening again.”

“Thanks, Stephen.”

With a nod, the wizard disappeared in a portal.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to your group of weirdos here…”, May wondered with wide eyes, staring at where the doc had been only a few moments ago.

“Yeah”, Tony chuckled, “sometimes I can’t believe it myself.”

Both stayed with Peter the rest of the day, every now and again one of the Avengers popping by and Peter’s room filled with more and more little gifts. Tony’s favourite was definitely the batch of cookies Thor brought. Though Clint’s waffles weren’t bad either.

“May, I wanted to ask, do you want to camp out here at the compound?”, Pepper asked as the sun got low.

“I can just stay here.”

“No, you can’t”, Peter disagreed. “You snore.”

“Excuse me?” Offended she raised her eyebrows. “I do not snore.”

“Yes, you do”, Happy meekly agreed with Peter.

“HAPPY!”

Tony and Pepper had to giggle, Peter wasn’t that amused about his aunt and Happy spending nights together though.

“Hap, I’d advise you to choose your next words carefully…”

“Yeah… I’m not sure who I’m more afraid of…” Flustered, he looked between May and Peter.

“Maybe don’t say anything”, Peter suggested, his voice scary calm.

Happy just nodded and sunk deep into the chair.

“Ok, well”, Pepper took over, “if you want to stay close, I think the room next door isn’t occupied. I could get it ready for you, if you want.”

“I don’t want to impose…”

“Nonsense!” Pepper got up. “You’re family, so that’s not even possible.”

“Thanks, but let me give you a hand at least.”

“Yeah, me too”, Happy nodded and quickly got up.

“You don’t want to help, Hap, you’re just scared of Peter”, Tony laughed.

Peter still eyed him sternly, and Happy quickly followed the women outside.

“Man”, Tony chuckled, “you really got that protective-son-thing down!”

He looked at the kid, whose expression faltered as soon as the door closed. “What’s wrong, kiddo? Are you in pain? Do you need something?”

Peter shook his head and took a deep breath before he looked Tony into the eyes. “Did I die?”

“What?” Oh shit, not good. “If you did, it’d be a pretty depressing heaven”, Tony tried to joke his way out of this one. “I mean I am absolutely honoured to be part of yours, but I wouldn’t want to spend eternity in a hospital bed and…”

“No.” Peter interrupted him and the look in his eyes turned from worried to downright scared. “When I got shot, did I die, well, almost die?”

Fuck. He promised May not to tell him.

“Why would you think that?”

“You and May are acting weird. When I woke up, both of you had reddish eyes, as if you had cried all night. When I joke about being hurt or something, you both cringe and every time somebody brings up the incident the anxiety is written all over your face and you get all shaky and stuff. I don’t want to worry May so I’m asking you. Did I die?”

“Almost, yeah”, Tony sighed.

“What happened? I mean… what really happened?”, the kid asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“I saw the news report, tried to get KAREN to tell me what was going on, but FRI couldn’t connect to her. Next thing I know, you call me, telling me you’ve been shot. While I was flying over there, you got weaker and barely got out a coherent sentence. When I got there, you were covered in blood, unconscious, your heartbeat extremely weak. I brought you back here, Strange sewed you back together and here we are.” Tony focused all his attention on Peter; if he were to start panicking again, it wouldn’t help the kid at all.

“Aha.” The boy stared straight ahead sitting motionless for a few moments.

“You alright, kiddo?”

Silently, Peter nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t buy that for a second.” Tony sat up on the bed and put an arm around Peter. “I already did enough freaking out for the both of us, so you don’t have to. Got it?”

“Yeah.” The kid leaned against Tony’s side, perfectly fitting himself into the hug. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“For telling me the truth. And saving my life.”

“Uhm, sure.” Tony wasn’t exactly sure what to do with the praise. “That’s kind of my job though, isn’t it?”

“Still. But can you please not tell May that you told me? I don’t want her to be extra concerned…”

“Of course! I actually promised her I wouldn’t tell you the truth, so it’s safer for me to keep this between us anyways…”

“Alright”, Peter giggled. “Oh, and just for the record: I’m pretty damn sure you would be part of my heaven!”


End file.
